SeventhSide Games has just launched its first game “Beebble”, a city builder (a virtual town simulator) geolocalised at a junction between Farmville, Sim City and Foursquare, offering players the possibility to allow their virtual environment to interact with their real world location.

The game’s story was inspired by one of Albert Einstein’s theory, stating that the survival of humanity rests on the bees’ destiny: “If bees disappear from the planet, Man will only have four years to live.”

To save humanity the Professor Beebblestein, a crazy scientist, created a new genetically modified species of bees names the Beebbles, capable of communicating with humans. During the professor’s experiments, an explosion occurred, scattering the Beebbles contained in his incubator to all four corners of the world.

By downloading the free game, the players will be asked to explore real locations around them to uncover the Beebbles who may have found themselves there after the blast. As well as enticing players to discover new areas of their real world, the game pushes them to create communities for these bees by placing towns within the Beebble universe but positioned in the real world. These towns will then be developed by the players, as well as any new friends they may make within the game.

Thus, by saving the Beebbles, will humanity be saved as well?

After a Beta version with SFR (http://goo.gl/nuuxw) in July 2011 and a launch the on the French App Store, Beebble has just made its first TV appearance on StarPlayer, a show dedicated to video games, on the TV channel Direct Star. (http://www.youtube.com/SeventhSideGames ) It has now been released worldwide.

For our technophile friends, the game has the particularity to be entirely developed using HTML5. This allows it to be natively compatible with the width and breadth of web and mobile interfaces.

A few general bits of information on social gaming:

All games have, in the near future, the vocation to become social. The term social game is intrinsically linked to games broadcasted on social networks such as Facebook. The gaming mechanisms used in social games play a lot on the interaction between players (feeling of accomplishment, of competition…)

These games are less costly to produce than traditional games (on average 150000 euros) and generate several hundreds of millions of dollars for the more popular of them.

The games editor Zynga, leader of the market, has counted more than 80 million players on their game Farmville per month. Including all their games, Zynga counts more than 268 million active players per month on Facebook.

A few interesting figures:

• The money spent on video games in 2011 is more than 74 billion dollars, or an increase of 10.4% to 2010. Gartner predicts this amount to reach 112 billion dollars in 2015.
• The social gaming industry represents a market of 8 billion dollars in 2011, and analysts predict 11.4 billion dollars in 2014.
• The virtual goods market (the purchase of virtual goods) should reach 20.3 billion dollars in 2014.
• The gaming industry should reach 54 billion dollars in 2015.
• 41% of American internet users play on social games, which amount to around 98 millions people.
• 2/3 of social gamers are women.
• The population of mobile gamers is made of 53% of women.
• The average time spent playing by social gamers is of 9.5 hours/week.

You will find attached more information on social gaming.

Here is also the link to a market study that we have undertaken a few months ago with extra figures to those already given in this message. (http://www.slideshare.net/Seventhsidegames/gaming-market-survey )

Can anyone remember what the world was like before mass social networking? What did we do on the computer? Did we have computers? What did we do in everyday life? How did we communicate?

Social networking has opened doors we never knew we had. Who ever knew that we needed to update our statuses, “like” brands, +1 pages and links, tweet pictures and updates on the go or make a collaborative playlist?

But, social networking trends come and go just like fashion, computers, phones and diets.

In terms of social networking, what’s come, what’s gone and what’s on the horizon?

Facebook:

Stalk Your Ex and “Like” Your Favorite FroYo Shop

It’s no secret that people love Facebook– and the statistics show it. Facebook’s 750 million users are on the site for more than 700 billion minutes per month. There are more than 900 million pages, groups, events (including frozen yogurt shops) to browse and “like”, hundreds of former classmates, as well as 250 million users who participate in mass liking from their mobile devices.

Though Facebook was revolutionary in design and user experience, its predecessors, Myspace and Friendster, readied the social networking mindset for many people. Though Facebook made social networking spread like wildfire, there was life before.

Google+:

Don’t Show Grandma The Party Pictures, Among Other Things

Google already has something of a monopoly on the Internet. Google+ initially surpassed Facebook as the fastest growing social networking site in history and offers features that force Facebook to play catch up.

Though Facebook helped pave the way for Google+’s success, many of its features are unprecedented. The mobile application for Google+ is much easier to use and much more reliable than Facebook’s.

Google+ also allows multiple users to chat or even watch YouTube videos as a group. Users can also coordinate huge dinners or Thursday night drinks via the chat room/text message feature called Huddles.

The circles also allow for more privacy than Facebook. Instead of going through the trouble of marking your album private and wondering if it works, you can just share with specific people.

Spotify:

Listen to Music Without the Guilt of Piracy

Before Spotify, music was a fairly overlooked aspect of social networking. Sites like last FM and Pandora offered somewhat of a glimpse into your pal’s favorite tunes, but Spotify took it to the next level.

Its design looks familiar to us and it’s an actual downloadable application, making it similar to iTunes and easier for us to wrap our minds around. Spotify lets you listen to just about anything you can imagine without the guilt of piracy and/or the F.B.I. breaking into your house while you sleep. Spotify also allows you to browse your friend’s playlists, create collaborative playlists together, access your music from any device with Spotify installed and sync all your mobile devices at once.

Just Visiting:

Be Productive and Proactive

For those who like to at least make an effort to use social networking responsibly and for an actual purpose, websites like Just Visiting allow you to stay up to date on current happenings in the real world, like trends in health insurance or health care reform and then to share your findings with friends or see what others are saying. With Just Visiting, healthcare and other relevant issues can be incorporated into social networking.

Twitter:

Read 140 Characters of Timely News and Useless Rants All At Once

When Twitter first debuted, nobody knew what it was for. A few years later, and people still aren’t really sure. But, it’s a great place to aggregate news from businesses, news sources, friends, family, musicians and even people’s pets. And somehow, it’s still less cluttered than Facebook.

The most interesting mobile devices released so far this year

Mobile technology is moving so fast that it can often seem tricky to make a decision on buying a new bit of kit in case something better supersedes it the very next day. Unfortunately, that is the nature of the mobile technology beast.

However, it is possible to pick a trio of gadgets that have so far this year proved themselves well worth taking a look at and may even be more than a-little future proof, if such a thing is possible in the current ever-changing tech climate.

Apple iPad 2

While many of us have either purchased or long to own an Apple iPad 2 tablet, it’s actually facing increasingly stiff competition. One device that is certainly one of the top tablets this year is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. This elegant computing on the go creation has delicious looks, great styling and a top drawer build quality.

What’s more, the tablet runs the Android operating system, which is know for it’s dependable perforce, which is further boosted by a fine technical specification. Add in an excellent screen and a host of on-board features and you’re looking at an Apple rival that’s up there with the best of them.

HTC smartphones

This actually takes in more than one model because it’s the smartphone products produced by HTC. Their range of Android based handsets are some of the best in business and with a string of new and improved models coming through all the time it seems likely that the smartphone will soon be doing
things we’d never dreamed of.

With Near Field Technology arriving on many handsets, which allows us to pay for goods and services with the swipe of our phone, things are likely to change even more with the arrival of 2011. Add on the specification and greatly improved feature set of models like the new Rhyme, Incredible and others like it in the HTC range and you’ve got mobile gadget paradise.

MiFi

The other mobile gadget in our pick of the best for this year is the humble MiFi device. There are now numerous variations on this theme from a variety of mobile network providers, which takes the traditional mobile broadband dongle and improves on the idea greatly. Take a look at the MiFi if you’re looking to maximise the potential of your mobile broadband account, because this little package will allow you to share out your connectivity to others around you.

This obviously means that you’ll be able to let family, friends and work colleagues log in to your mobile broadband connection and share the internet. It’s an excellent idea, but caution should be used because your data allowances get divvied up accordingly.

So if you have someone else who logs into the MiFi and starts downloading lots of very large files, then you could come unstuck. Nevertheless, the MiFi is a fine idea and looks like becoming more popular as mobile broadband gets faster and more efficient.

Ok. We get it. Google is huge. Massive. Gargantuan. All of the above.

Think about the painstaking process of finding anything on the World Wide Web back in the late 90s before “Google” became a verb synonymous with search.

We had to askjeeves, whoever he was, and cross our fingers at the chance getting something in the ballpark of our query.

Google has a way of transforming the way we use the Internet, or the way the Internet uses us.

AdSense

Sure, you may think you’re searching for things with Google. But really, Google is searching you. You impulsively “Googled” multiple variations of the keyword “engagement rings” six times in one hour. Just to see what your options were. And now, for the next few hours, you’re bombarded with ads on the side and top of your page for any and everything wedding related.

Google has recently begun using AdSense for search retargeting. Google’s AdSense uses your latest search queries (engagement rings, wedding dresses, is my boyfriend going to propose, how to deal with in-laws) to give you specifically targeted ads. They know you better than you know yourself, and search retargeting won’t let you forget it.

Google Maps

Remember when Mapquest.com jettisoned to popularity? People couldn’t believe they were able to get directions from the Internet and took off on three-hour road trips to visit everyone from old college roommates to in-laws they hardly even liked.

Then Google Maps launched, gained popularity and turned Mapquest.com into a cartographical wasteland. The reasons for this? We use Google for everything else anyway. Plus, Mapquest.com had a tendency to get you almost there, but not quite.

And Google Earth provides a whole new level of exploration and navigation with which Mapquest.com couldn’t compete.

Gmail

Email was really cool, like fifteen years ago back in the days of Hotmail, Netscape, and AOL. Then Yahoo! launched its email service and revolutionized the way people communicated with distant relatives or even next-door neighbors. Yahoo brought the ‘cool’ back to email for a bit. Addresses like “soccergirl876@hotmail.com” became child’s play while people flocked to Yahoo! to have a better domain behind their names. Then Google launched Gmail.

And now, who can even name ten other email providers besides Google?

That’s my point exactly.

Google+

Facebook is still a social networking monster. Without it, most people wouldn’t be able to keep in touch with friends, reconnect with old buddies, and chat with family in other countries, or cyber-stalk their ex.

What decent 21st Century American could survive otherwise?

And, while Facebook is unfathomably vast, Google+ is the fastest growing social network of all time. Sure, Facebook paved the way for Google+, but Myspace paved the way for Facebook – and look at where Myspace is these days.

Google+ could turn Facebook into the ‘new’ Myspace. Ouch.

What’s next?

Whether it’s even more accurate search retargeting, the next Facebook or the furthering of advanced applications like Google Docs, no one really knows what Google will do next.

Except for maybe—Google? Yeah. They’ve got something up their electronic sleeve.

In today’s digital world, the wide availability of high speed internet requires the use of an equally adequate browser. Modern browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, are built to take advantage of the latest web technology and maximize its full potential. The following compares the features and capabilities of both browsers.

Mozilla Firefox

Firefox version 5, boasts more speed and better use of system memory. It is quicker to start up and stays stable after running for a while, a big improvement over version 4. When tested against Chrome and Opera for start-up time, it beat both by a large margin. Firefox also consumed only 225MB memory when running 10 tabs with resource intensive features.

Firefox 5 looks basically the same as version 4, which brought better support for the Aero theme in Windows Vista and 7.

Security was also beefed up in Firefox by the addition of Do Not Track, a feature that prevents web sites from tracking a visitor. There is some debate as to how useful this feature is, however, it is sure to appeal to security conscious types.

Web standards such as HTML5, SMIL, canvas and XHR have improved support in Firefox 5. The browser also has a web based building environment called Firefox Add-On Builder which is a very attractive feature for the development crowd. Currently, Firefox 5 has the top support of open web standards.

Firefox 6 was silently released yesterday as part of its new “rapid release” schedule. Major new features are minimal. But that’s not to say Firefox 6 brings nothing to us. In fact, a look at its complete change-log reveals a total of 1,300 changes and fixes!

Firefox 6 seems slightly faster in performance than its preceding versions.

One of the changes that users may notice include URL highlighting, which, like Internet Explorer 9 and Google Chrome, shows the domain name in darker font than the rest of a page’s address.

There is also improved security features and tweaks, such as Advanced site security block and site-specific permissions. “A new permissions manager, accessible by typing ‘about:permissions‘ in the address bar, lets users set site-specific permissions to control acceptance of cookies, location sharing, pop-ups, and password and data storage!.

Below is the list of changes in Firefox 6:

• The address bar now highlights the domain of the website you’re visiting
• Streamlined the look of the site identity block
• Added support for the latest draft version of WebSockets with a prefixed API
• Added support for EventSource / server-sent events
• Added support for window.matchMedia
• Added Scratchpad, an interactive JavaScript prototyping environment
• Added a new Web Developer menu item and moved development-related items into it
• Improved usability of the Web Console
• Improved the discover-ability of Firefox Sync
• Reduced browser startup time when using Panorama
• Fixed several stability issues
• Fixed several security issues

Click here to see the complete list of changes in Firefox 6. There is major update coming from firefox due in about 6 weeks, so stayed tuned for that.

Firefox is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It also has a clone called Palemoon, which is optimized for Windows.

Google Chrome

The Chrome browser, now in its 13th incarnation, continues to wow web professionals and casual surfers alike. It scores top marks in security and performance, and many users appreciate its minimalist interface. Chrome was the first and is still the only browser to feature the Omnibox, where web addresses and search strings are typed in the same place.

Chrome is easy to install and is up and running in under a minute, in most cases. It is zippy from a cold start and maintains stability with multiple tabs through tab process isolation. It also has a Flash player built in and native support for PDF.

New in Chrome 13 is Chrome Instant, which loads either a web page from the user’s history or shows search results when a web address is typed. The page will be fully loaded even before the address is completed. This is a major factor in Chrome’s overall speed and efficiency.

Chrome’s tab management is impressive as well. The new tab page features thumbnails of most visited pages and web apps. Tabs themselves are managed so that when one crashes, it doesn’t bring down the entire browser. This alone can increase productivity for most users, especially on high speed internet.

Chrome is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Chromium is the source code and is available for anyone who wishes to build on it.

Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are both excellent browsers that support the modern web well. There is no clear winner in this browser war; it all comes down to the needs of the user. Chrome may have a bit of an advantage for developers with its great support of HTML5, while Firefox may appeal to those who wish to have a better and more secure browsing experience. It is up to the user to decide.

Chrome vs Firefox, Your Thoughts?

Most people would have both on their systems, and that surely would be a good idea! So which one do you prefer? whats your reasoning behind using it? Sure, We would love to hear from you

Note: Photo courtesy of brucknerite via FlickR Creative Commons.

Jazz has always aimed to provide the best value to its customers. Therefore, Jazz now brings the most economical daily bundle ‘Jazz Chota Bundle Offer’.

With Jazz Chota Bundle you get 7 minutes and 30 SMS for a day, only for Rs. 5. The minutes will be for on-net only and SMS will be for all local mobile networks.

How to Subscribe to the Jazz Chota Bundle Offer

Process 1: Enter *101*1*06# on mobile screen and press send.
Process 2: Dial 121 for Jazz Features Menu, press 6 and follow IVR instructions.

Terms & Conditions

• In case of multiple subscriptions, the count of minutes and SMS will be added together and validity will be greater of the two subscriptions e.g. if a customer buys a bundle on 11:00 Oct 27, 2010 consumes 2 minutes and 10 SMS the same day (left with 5 minutes and 20 SMS available till 23:59 Oct 28, 2010) and buys another bundle next day 14:00 Oct 28, 2010, he will have 12 minutes and 50 SMS available till 23:59 Oct 29,2010.

• In case of purchase of a bundle before the expiry of previous bundle, the validities will be greater of the two but the destination of the minutes will be as per the last purchased bundle i.e. if a subscriber has bought all-in-one bundle and before the consumption / expiry of the bundle he has bought this on-net bundle, all the minutes will be converted to on-net; and vice versa.

• Weekly bundle and Newly launched “All in One” bundle are the other bundles to enjoy.

Promotional Commercial

Finally..

For more information, please visit the offical Jazz’s Chota Bundle Offer Website.

Are you a Mobilink / Jazz Subscriber? Then let us know what you think about this offer.

Each and every blogger out there does his or her best to increase blog traffic. We learn all about great SEO techniques. We pursue backlinks in order to boost our search engine results. We create great content in order to keep readers coming back.

But how do we increase our readers? Our can we both satisfy our current readership but also reach loads more readers?

Well, here are Five Unique and Creative Blogging Tips to help you increase your readers.

Run Weekly Contests

Keep your readers coming back and entice new readers with the promise of prizes each week. Of course, this option requires that you can afford to give away prizes, but you don’t have to always buy prizes. You could give away a spot of advertising or you could make one prize a guest post or something like that. Be creative with the kinds of prizes you give away, and readers will appreciate both your generosity and the way you interact with them. Soon news will spread of your contests and you’ll attract more readers to your blog. One good contest could be a ‘Great Comment Contest’; pick one comment each week that you felt added great content to your blog and reward that commenter.

Pursue Guerrilla Marketing

One way to increase readers is to create buzz about your blog. You can do this through a variety of Guerrilla marketing techniques. For example, if you’re a tech blogger, consider printing off a bunch of bookmarks with a cool design on them or a quotation from your blog and make sure you have your blog’s name on them. Then go into a bookstore, find the technology books section, and slip those bookmarkers into a bunch of cool tech books. This is just one example of creating buzz. You have to be creative and do things in new and interesting ways. One way is to think outside of the blogosphere.

Hand Over the Key

Well, I don’t mean literally, of course, but one way to create more readers is to allow your readers to participate in the creation of your blog’s content. By offering guest posts specifically to your readers, you make them invest something of themselves into your blog. After they write a guest post, they’ll feel responsible for the health of your blog, so they’ll want to tell all their friends to read their guest post, thus bringing you more readers!

Cause a Controversy!

You’ll want to be careful with this idea, sure, but it could be fun. You don’t have to cause a real big controversy, because you want to watch your reputation. However, if you create a scene, you’ll gather onlookers. You can create a scene all sorts of ways. Find the latest news in your blogging community and take an opinionated stance on it. You don’t have to be mean in order to do this well; write a well-reasoned argument that takes an unpopular stance, and you’ll soon have readers interested in debating you on your points. This could be a great way to also inspire the blogging community to examine certain issues.

Break a Big Story

Finally, if you can break a big story on your blog, you’ll gain a huge following. In order to do this well, you have to monitor all channels related to your blogging niche. This means following specific people on Twitter, having an excellent feed in your RSS reader, and having the authority to ask your readers for tips every now and then.

What are some other creative ways you’ve tried to get new readers on your blog?

Those of you not aware, Firefox 4 was just recently released. I just downloaded and installed it a few hours ago and found it quite amazing. Though it has adopted the Google Chrome Visual Style alot for the Interface (Like how the menus and tabs are displayed, etc…) But, there was something odd which i noticed in Firefox 4 which is that the “Save Tabs on Exit” Confirmation Dialog Window is no longer being displayed when closing Multiple Tab Windows, it used to do that prior to Firefox Version 4.

The first thing i did after noticing this behavior was to type about:config in the address bar and look through to find something that might be the cause, while doing so i stumbled upon browser.showQuitWarning preference setting, which was the culprit. It is set as FALSE by default in Firefox 4 – so the solution is to simply change it to true and we’re done.

How to Fix It?

Below is the step by step process to fix this issue:

• Type about:config in the address bar and hit the Enter button.
• You see a warning page, just click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button to continue.
• On the Filter Box, type or copy/paste browser.showQuitWarning
• You should be able to see the setting in the list, all you have to do is right-click and click the Toggle Option or simply just Double-Click on the setting to toggle it to TRUE.

Once you have followed the above steps correctly, you will be re-united with your precious “Save Tabs on Exit” Warning Dialog – No Restarting Firefox Required

Let us know if this worked for you, and / or if you have some other useful Tips and Tricks for Firefox 4 to share.

DVD players give us all the opportunity to bring the entertainment we get from a movie theatre to comfort of our living room or bed room. They are our film projector, playing our favorite movies, while also giving us the complete control we desire. Looking at five DVD players in particular, each offers their own specific niche.

LG DVD Player Model# DN898

Starting with the LG – Progressive-Scan DVD Player with HD Up-conversion (Model: DN898), this player gives you the chance to lay down in your favorite chair, put your legs up and let your mind be taken on a cinematic adventure. Some of the great features include the greatly enhanced video performance through up-converting the video resolution of standard DVDs to HDTV-compliant 720p/1080i/1080p formats. There’s black level adjustment for enhanced contrast and detail, as well as CD playback functions include 30-track programmability, random and repeat. One function in particular that is great to have is the parental lock helps keep children from being exposed to any material you feel would be undesirable.

Dynex DVD Player Model# DX-UPDVD2

Next is the Dynex DVD Player with HD Up-conversion (Model: DX-UPDVD2). Through using this DVD player with high definition up-conversion, you will be able to experience studding sound and images. Dynex provides you with greatly enhanced video performance with all DVDs through upconverting their video resolution to HDTV. Experience a plush soundscape by way of the Dolby Digital and DTS sound decoders. The remote you will receive can operate your DVD player from up close to far away. You will also receive an extensive amount of outputs this includes 1 stereo audio, 1 coaxial digital audio, 1 optical digital audio, 1 composite video, and 1 component video.

Philips DVD Player Model# DVP3560/F7

Then we have the Philips – DVD Player with HD Up-conversion (Model: DVP3560/F7). With this device you are able to bring a sharp, clear picture to your television screen as this dvd player features HDMI 1080p upscaling and progressive scan component video for optimized image quality. You will also receive crisp and robust audio from the Dolby Digital decoder. With the JPEG Viewer/MP3 Player, you will be able to view all of your favorite photos with audio.

Sony DVD Player Model# DVPSR500H

Not to be left out, the Sony DVD Player with HD Up conversion (Model: DVPSR500H). Sony gives you the opportunity to view your favorite DVDs will also listening to your music (mp3′s). This DVD players possesses Precision Cinema Progressive technology for remarkable resolution and heightened detail. The playable formats include DVD, VCD, SVCD, CD, MP3 and JPEG. With the Precision Drive 3 system you are able to swiftly and accurately correct errors in your DVDs for smooth playback. The 192kHz/24-bit audio digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion gives every viewer rich sound enhancement for lively audio.

Samsung DVD Player Model# DVD-C500

Last but not least there is the Samsung DVD Player with HD Up-conversion (Model: DVD-C500). Here we have a dvd players which possesses 1080p up-conversion for viewing standard-definition DVDs in high-definition and DTS and Dolby Digital decoders for a luxurious soundscape. Accompanied by the owner’s manual, this machine has multiple playable formats – DVD, DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, MPEG-4 and JPEG. With a 14-bit video digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion that offers video so clear and crisp, you will feel like your movies are coming to life. With so many great options to choose from, you can’t go wrong!

It’s time for yet another give-away, our first give-away was of 500 Free Business Cards from uPrinting, after that we had Daniusoft DVD Ripper Giveaway. This time the stakes are higher and chances are even greater. So if you didn’t make it in time for the previous give-away this is your lucky chance as we are now offering 3 Sets of 500 Business Cards to 3 Lucky Winners Courtesy of All Business Cards.

The cards could be single or double sided, printed on thick 16pt card stock, and have a Glossy UV finish, a Matte Finish, or can come uncoated. Only people from US and Canada are able to participate and printing and shipping is included.  This would cost the winners absolutely nothing.

If you’re interested and want to grab them, then please read below on how you can participate.

How to Participate in this Give-Away?

• You must be in USA or Canada to Participate.
• First goto our Facebook Page and Like Us, you can also do so using the box in the sidebar.
• Tweet about this give-away.
• Follow AllBusinessCards from your twitter account (optional but gives you an extra entry).
• Follow eBloggy from your twitter account (optional but gives you an extra entry).
• Finally, post a comment below and also include your twitter/facebook id so we can verify.

Note: Be sure to use your valid email to post the comment, incase you are the winner we will use that email to contact you.

When Does it End?

You can submit an entry until March 25th, 2011. The winners will be announced on the March 26th, 2011.

3 Lucky Winners will be selected using random.org, so adding extra entries using the above method would give you a better chance of being selected.

Winners Update

We were suppose to announce 3 winners but unfortunately there weren’t too many participate in this giveaway. The only eligible winner is: Adriana Grillo (Congrats to you), you’ll be receiving an email soon

Good luck to you all